Judge: Apple not liable for dropped, broken iPhone screens

Lawsuits a pain in the glass

A US judge has ruled that punters who drop their iPhones, smashing the smartphone's glass screen in the process, can't blame Apple for it.

Judge Edward Davila of the San Jose District Court this week rejected a local man's attempt to sue the Cupertino giant over a cracked iPhone 4 panel, stating "it is a well known fact of life that glass can break under impact".

The plaintiff, Betsalel Williamson, felt the need to replace his iPhone's rear face after knocking his phone off the arm of a chair. The resulting Earthward descent and collision with the ground cracked the handset's glasswork.

Williamson wanted the court to force Apple to cough up for the repair work. He said his case showed that Apple's claims in advertising that the handset's glass panelling was über-tough were clearly misleading.

Not so, ruled the judge.

"A 'reasonable consumer' viewing a commercial showing the iPhone 4 in use as a phone, but without a cover, would not be misled to believe that the iPhone 4 could withstand any particular level of impact if the phone was dropped," he wrote in his verdict.

Williamson was given the opportunity to revise his complaint to show specific examples of Apple's alleged deceit. ®